David Ojabo is sick of talking about last year. The Ravens outside linebacker fell to the second round of the draft after tearing his Achilles tendon during his pro day at Michigan, didn’t make his debut until Week 14 and played just three games.
Odafe Oweh — Ojabo’s friend and former high school teammate from New Jersey — looks at last season differently, though.
“I never forget,” he said during the Ravens’ voluntary “football school” on Wednesday. “I use it as motivation.
“As a competitor, you remember things that you’ve gotta work on, that you missed on so you can bounce back the next year.”
The Ravens could use the bounce back.
Despite a dominant training camp last summer, the 6-foot-5, 251-pound outside linebacker who the Ravens spent a first-round draft pick on in 2021 saw his production drop from five sacks as a rookie to three in 2022.
It wasn’t just getting to the quarterback where he struggled, either. Oweh’s mechanics needed work, leading to trouble shedding blocks.
He also saw his playing time cut as the year went on. Over the first eight weeks last season, Oweh averaged just over 50 defensive snaps a game. In the final nine games, that number fell to 25.
Some of that decline could be explained by Tyus Bowser’s midseason return from a torn Achilles tendon along with the signing of veteran Jason Pierre-Paul. Oweh was also coming off shoulder surgery, which he said tested his patience and resolve as he dealt with an injury for the first time in his career.
Still, it was a dramatic dip, with Oweh playing just 17 snaps in a Week 13 win over the Denver Broncos and 19 the following week in a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The message from coach John Harbaugh this past March was clear: “For those two young outside backers to step up and be part of the mix is critically important,” he said of Ojabo and Oweh, via the team’s website.
That importance was reiterated Wednesday.
“The things we encouraged him to do are the things he’s doing every day,” second-year defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald said of Oweh. “He’s here, he’s working hard and that’s all we’re asking him to do right now is just focus on the process and let the results happen with the work [he’s] putting in.”
That work, Oweh said, has included improving his rip move and having a plan of attack rather than trying to simply react. He also acknowledged his concentration needs to be better.
There’s at least precedent he can draw from — inside linebacker Patrick Queen broke out in his third season last year with a team-high 117 tackles.
“It was a learning season, a year to develop,” Oweh said of last year. “I got better not just on the field but mentally as a player, as a professional learning from things you can work on and build on. It was a good season for me from that aspect.
“There were times when I was there, but my concentration maybe wasn’t there, and I could have gotten [the sack]. And there are guys that were in the situation that still made those plays. So, it’s not an excuse, but I know where I’m at now, and I know what I can do now.”
Macdonald also said that while Oweh’s statistical production tailed off, that doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story.
“I look back at last year, we’re putting together teach dates and stuff [outside linebackers coach Chuck Smith’s] watching, we were saying this guy’s doing a lot of good stuff for us,” he said. “Does that show up on the stat sheet? Maybe not. But the guy rushed outside, rushed inside and I thought he really caught his stride at the at the end of the year. The sacks I really believe they’ll come. I’m not worried about what sack number he’s at.”
Last season, only four teams had more sacks than the Ravens’ 48. But matching that total could be difficult this year.
Justin Houston, who led Baltimore with 9 1/2 sacks last season, is a 34-year-old free agent. Calais Campbell, who had 5 1/2 sacks, now plays for the Atlanta Falcons.
Ojabo and Oweh will be expected to help make up for the difference.
Between them, they have just nine sacks in 34 regular-season games. The Ravens will need better production out of both if they’re again to be one of the NFL’s best defenses, particularly in a division with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and a schedule that includes the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff, Seattle Seahawks’ Geno Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence and Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa.
“We know that there’s a real opportunity right here — a real great story, coming from where we both come from, being together, starting football late, soaring and having trials, tribulations, being that,” Oweh said of his and Ojabo’s journey from Nigeria, to the same high school and eventually the NFL as teammates. “We know the opportunity that we have. We want to be those guys for Baltimore.”
He also has goals that will help him write that story, though he isn’t sharing them just yet.
“I’ve got those in my head,” he said. “But it’s definitely to be dominate and just help our defense to be the best that we can be this year.”
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